The present invention relates generally to explosive containment devices for stored explosives, and specifically to a bomb pallet design with fire extinguishing chemical agents encased within the structural elements of the pallet for the suppression of sympathetic detonation between groups of bombs.
The safe storage of insensitive high explosive (IHE) general purpose bombs is of concern to the U.S. Air Force. These large ordinance items include the MK-80 series of bombs, which are loaded with tritonal. It is the current practice to store these large ordinance items in close proximity with each other in confined storage areas. When this practice is used, it is important to divert and suppress the effect of an initially exploding donor bomb from its adjacent neighbors (acceptor bombs).
An analysis of the detonation of MK-82 bombs has identified no less than four mechanical processes which transport energy from the donor bomb to the acceptor bomb for sympathetic detonation. These processes are identified as (a) flyer plate mode, (b) pure shock transmission, (c) mechanical distortion, and (d) fragment penetration. The primary difference between (a) and (d) is the distance between the items. While air is not an efficient medium for shock propagation, it does allow large energy transfers by means of the flyer plate mode.
Tests have shown that the high local pressures produced by donor bombs are effective in heaving and displacing the adjacent bombs to considerable distances and at fairly high and unaccepatable velocities. Also, large quantities of high explosive material may be exposed and is capable of sustaining fires. For confined storage areas when groups of bombs are stored on pallets, both the sympathetic detonation problem and fire and high bomb displacement problem must be addressed. A detonating bomb (donor bomb) not only produces high pressures and high velocity fragments but the detonation of a donor bomb is associated with a release of a considerable amount of heat; thus, posing a fire problem. Should a bomb adjacent to the detonating donor bomb be ruptured exposing the explosive fill to the intense thermal pulse accompanying the detonation, the exposed high explosive will ignite thereby supporting long duration thermal loading which may ignite other explosives in or out of a ruptured case. Since most explosive fills will burn readily being oxygen rich, a possible sequence of explosions of a number of bombs lying close together in a confined area is possible. The present need is to improve the storage of individual high explosives. The present invention is intended to satisfy that need.